1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a damper mechanism for vehicle glove boxes and particularly to a damper mechanism which is utilizes a cam deflected spring to damp the downward movement of the glove box lid.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to improve the feel of smoothness and quality while opening a glove box door, various damping devices have been employed. Such devices include elaborate assemblies of springs, pistons, cams, cables and numerous other arrangements for slowing the descent of the glove box door as it is opened. This is especially desired in the current glove box doors which require a sheet metal liner to meet safety standards.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,311 issued Dec. 12, 1989 to Trube et al. teaches a glove box lock mechanism mounted in the dash panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,159 issued Mar. 8, 1994 to Sandhu et al. teaches a flush mounted door latching mechanism for use with glove boxes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,378 issued Jan. 31, 1995 to Hakamada et al. teaches a glove box opening system that allows the glove box door to be opened further than the normal use position to allow access to the interior area of the dash board for servicing air conditioning or air bag units.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,583 issued Oct. 20, 1998 to Sandhu et al. teaches a simplified three piece glove box latching mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,448 issued Feb. 9, 1999 to Izumo teaches a glove box lid which opens upward instead of downward and a tensioning means to allow the raised glove box lit to remain open until forced downward by the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,083 issued Sep. 14, 1999 to Bittinger et al. teaches damping a glove box door""s movement using a compressible rubber wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,501 issued Nov. 28, 2000 to Magi et al. teaches a glove box door handle and latch assembly having a mounted door latch that is flush with the exterior door panel.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2002/0171248 published Nov. 21, 2002 to Diss et al. teaches a glove box latching assembly having a handle mounted flush with the exterior door panel.
Thus there is still a need for an efficient, easy to assembly, cost effective, reduced breakage glove box door damping device.
The present invention provides advantages and alternatives over the prior art by providing a glove box damping assembly which may be molded-in reducing the manufacturing and assembly costs.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a glove box damper comprising: a cam assembly comprising a cam lobe attached substantially perpendicular to a pair of mounting spindles and at least two brackets for mounting said cam assembly along the bottom edge of a glove box lid, said glove box lid mounted along its lower edge to a glove box bin allowing said glove box lid to open in a downward direction; a spring assembly comprising body having an integral spring against which said cam lobe is biased and a pair of spindle mounting slots for positioning said cam assembly, mounted on an instrument panel retainer, thereby providing a damping of the downward opening movement of said glove box lid.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided A glove box damper comprising: a cam assembly comprising a cam lobe attached substantially perpendicular to a pair of mounting spindles and at least two brackets for mounting said cam assembly along the bottom edge of a glove box lid, said glove box lid mounted along its lower edge to a glove box bin allowing said glove box lid to open in a downward direction; a spring assembly comprising body having an integral spring against which said cam lobe is biased and having a shape stopping the travel of the cam at a desired point, and a pair of spindle mounting slots for positioning said cam assembly, mounted on an instrument panel retainer, thereby providing a damping of the downward opening movement of said glove box lid as well as a desired amount of travel of said glove box lid.
The present invention thus advantageously provides a glove box damper device which is easy to assembly, cost effective, has reduced breakage, and which provides a sense of smooth operation and quality construction to the user.